Statue of Liberty's Tinsmith To Visit Howard Hall Farm

Lady Liberty's Tin Man 'Ternes' toward Howard Hall Farm

Our House at Howard Hall Farm has a Terne Tin roof, so over the years, Reggie has done a lot of research on it. He's been looking for an expert for quite some time now, so when he read an article in the New York Post about THE TIN MAN who is the fourth generation of a line of tinsmiths (dating back to 1892), and Lady Liberty's personal assistant, he couldn't resist getting in touch with him.

---

Incredible as it seems, Dennis Heaphy has agreed to come work on Howard Hall Farm's tin roof! He'll be working here for a week in mid-October. During his stay, Dennis will be conducting a presentation for children about the making of the statue of Liberty.

In an interview for "The Tin Man:Metalsmith puts best face on Lady Liberty", by C.J. Sullivan(New York Post), Mr. Heaphy said, "This truly is my dream job. It’s an evolution of everything I’ve ever done. It’s an opportunity to use an esoteric knowledge, combined with an opportunity to display it. And there’s nothing like seeing a child fascinated with something they didn’t know they’d be fascinated with. They love to hear me tell how hard it was for me, at 11, to hold the tools. They grab them and try and keep them steady.

When I leave for the day, it’s a real gift to go home by boat. I always look back at the Statue of Liberty and feel good that I enriched some people’s day there. It makes me giggle when I look back. I feel that good."

We are open to the idea of offering a workshop for anyone interested in learning at the hands of a true artisan, but we will only do this if enough people are interested. If you would like to take a workshop to learn to work with Terne Tin, contact us at howardhall.farm@gmail.com

---

For those of you who aren't familiar with Terne Tin, Reggie found a posting about it on the Slate Roof Central Message Board:

"Terne is an alloy coating of lead and tin used to cover steel - the terne coated steel is also known as terne metal and often referred to as "tin" (get the Slate Roof Bible). You can still buy terne-coated steel at any roofing supply place. We do not use it because it's better to use terne coated STAINLESS steel (TCS), or copper, when replacing terne metal roofs. Both TCS and copper will outlast terne metal and don't need painted until they reach about 50 years (if ever).

Terne metal needs painted immediately or it will rust and it has to be painted regularly. If it is kept painted, it will last a long time (90 years).

The latest version of terne is called terne II. It is an alloy of zinc and tin (the lead has been removed for environmental reasons). The terne coated stainless is now called TCSII. It's available from Follansbee in Follansbee, WV.

I should add that when ordering terne coated stainless from a roofing supply company make sure you make it very clear that it's STAINLESS steel you're ordering. Numerous times we have been shipped terne coated steel instead of the terne coated stainless steel that we ordered due to salesmen who weren't too bright and didn't know the difference."

Sheffield Marble In The Rough

Where else would you find the elusive remains of marble from the same quarry that was initially commissioned to supply the materials for the Lincoln Memorial but in the middle of a junkyard? Reggie (for those new to the blog, he and Norah are the visionaries that dreamed up our project here at Howard Hall Farm) was telling me about a project he worked on that included redoing a stoop for a gorgeous Victorian home here in the Hudson River Valley. Apparently, to be historically accurate, he wanted to find the marble that would have been used around that time, which came from a local place called The Sheffield Quarry in Sheffield, Mass.

The catch: The Sheffield Quarry was commissioned to provide the marble for the Lincoln Memorial. Their marble was used for the base, but they couldn't keep up with the demand, and another quarry took over. (That's why anyone who's seen it will notice that the base of the statue is white marble, but the rest has grey veins.) The loss of that job drove them to ruin and put them out of business in the 1850's....So how in the world was he supposed to find some of this special marble?

A rumor reached him that SOMEWHERE there were some small chunks remaining from the quarry that hadn't been used. So he and a friend got into the car, and drove through the torrential absurdity of a hideous sleet storm to the area near the quarry. They passed a junkyard on the way, and knowing that junkyard guys are some of the greatest holders of secret local lore and clues, they decided to see if they could help. So they took the car along the windy road, passed through the graveyard of rusting car carcasses, and found the two proprietors sitting beside a fire.

(Now here's where serendipity comes in from the rain to play.) It turned out that the remaining pieces of this Sheffield marble were closer than they suspected. Two 10x10 foot pieces remained and were hiding out (where else?) right there in the center of the junkyard!

So they were able to redo the stoop as history dictated.

And now the exciting new addition to our home at Howard Hall Farm: (can you guess?)

We got a piece of Sheffield marble for our entryway!
The boys installed it yesterday, and it's stunning!